GST Registration

I know that the pros and cons of this have been talked about (a lot) before, but now that we have decided (and been advised) to Register, what format have others used.. ie as a Sole Trader / Individuals - or as a Partnership, or a Limited Company..

I have done GST returns before (about 7 years ago now), so am not intending to use an accountant (unless absolutely neccessary)....

Thanks

Alan

Our accountant has always advised us to be registered as a Partnership. I asked about becoming a Ltd compant last year, and he said do you really want to pay that much tax!!

Our lawyer at the time of the property purchase recommended partnership as well. Simple, straighforward, and different level of taxation, because we would probably always be below that particular income threshold.

Andrea
Oxford

Partnership here too!

We are also trading as a partnership.

Us too

Great - thanks for that everyone - pretty much what I had thought too!

Alan

The best business structure for you will depend to a degree on your personal circumstances. The decision will have tax and other financial repercussions and is probably best decided with input from your lawyer or accountant :confused:

Won't comment on the sole trader vs partnership thing but I've been doing GST returns since GST was instigated, many moons ago.

I did my last two returns on-line which is great. It's easy, once you get set up. It doesn't save you much, other than a walk to the letterbox to post the manual one. You still have to print it out on your printer. However, when it's a refund, it's in your bank account much quicker than when you do it the manual way. Great to get money quicker than you expected!

Hope it all goes well.

We just did our most recent one on-line (for the first time) - very easy and quick, though have the window on your screen open as large as possible - I kept missing the note at the foot of the form about the calculations that the IRD form would do for me and kept trying to put in the numbers myself!!!!.

JustHoldingOn;276830 wrote: Our accountant has always advised us to be registered as a Partnership. I asked about becoming a Ltd compant last year, and he said do you really want to pay that much tax!!

.... which is pretty much what our accountant said too so the farm and Kevin's business are run as a partnership with the loss of one being off-set by the income from the other.

Like many here, I keep our books but they still go to the accountant at the end of the financial year - well they would if I ever got them together[:0]

Cheers,
Ronnie

Haven't they reduced the rate company tax since the election?

We operate the farm as a partnership registered for GST. As we both are on salaries from our day jobs, any loss can be offset against our PAYE (ie if the partnership makes a loss, we get a tax refund). That's income tax, of course, not GST, but our GST number is our IRD number for the income tax side of partnership, so I guess it's interwoven somehow.

Years ago, I was under the impression that you could only offset a loss against PAYE if you had a loss attributed qualifying company (LAQC), ie a registered company, however I later discovered that a partnership does the same thing (or a sole trader if it's only one person).

The way I understand it (don't quote me on this) is that with a registered company, there is more of a dividing line between personal and company assets. If the company owns an asset (eg a vehicle) and the company goes belly up, then the car can be sold by the liquidators to service the company's debts. But your personal possessions (ie your private vehicle NOT owned by the company) are protected by the limited liability, whereas in a partnership they would not be. I *think* that's how it works, but I stand to be corrected.

Hi there

company vs partnership??

you can set the company up to be able to access any losses and offset against personal taxable income (called a LAQC) so no real difference there.

Limits on liability for business losses - perhaps - remember the company is liable to the extent of its assets, shareholders are liable to the extent of captial contributed but (I assume shareholders will be directors) you'll have to watch the duties and obligations of directors - at law directors could be liable to the extent of their personal assets if they have breached those duties and end up just like partners in a partnership.

In terms of setup - companies can now mostly be done over the internet for nothing - companies office site is really helpful. Unless you pay a lawyer to write up your partnership agreement the 1908 Partnership Act will apply and it might not be what you want.

We operate our business through a LAQC (loss attributing qualifying company) and its quite good fun (if you like that sort of thing).